Resources

Stewardship 101

Thanking, recognizing, and celebrating our donors is an essential part of stewardship for our institution. As private support increasingly becomes important to supporting what we do, here are a few baseline stewardship samples and policies to get you started.

Annual Giving

Approximately 71% of the gifts received at UW-Madison in 2014 were less than $250. Donors of this category accounted for 11 percent of total dollars received by the foundation. Engaging these donors will be crucial in our campaign and is less costly than recruiting new donors.

Undergraduate Support

Students are the life-blood of our university. As the cost of education rises, scholarships are increasingly important because they help us to retain the best students by removing financial barriers of attendance.

Graduate and Professional Support

Graduate and professional students are critical to a research institution. The most accomplished graduate students are in demand and graduate and professional awards give UW-Madison the ability to recruit and retain the best scholars.

Faculty Support

The future of our institution is dependent on the quality and caliber of our faculty. To recruit and retain top professors in a competitive environment, endowed professorships and chairs help to generate funding for research and honor the top achievers at the university.

Facilities & Programs

Buildings and programs give donors the chance to invest in something tangible. Engaging supporters who give to a physical entity can present different stewardship opportunities. View this section to see how to show the impact of gifts creatively and completely.

Principal Gifts

A principal gift is a minimum $5 million gift (or higher if a blended or planned gift) that provides a transformational impact for the university. Principal gifts will be automatically qualified to receive campus-level stewardship recognition tailored to the needs of the donor and the purpose of the gift for both short and long-term recognition.